The Midnight

“Shadow and darkness are different things. A shadow is created by light. It is the power of night and moon and star, the kind of power we do not need to fight... True darkness has no relation to the light but hatred.”

-Jiiri, the Shadow Seer

Unsettling shadows are creeping across the world. The villagers of Zefiru have begun moving into towns and cities, away from the borders. Animals in the desert shuck their forms to become abominations of the Dark. Unsettling rumblings in the eastern ocean have the emikun panicked. The Midnight - a realm (behind and to the left) of reality - is stirring, and night mages throughout Wyral are getting worried. They are the only ones who understand its danger, yet even they do not know the forgotten shadows which control it...

The Eternal Sea

Into the Dark

It is difficult to describe the Midnight to those who have never experienced or traversed it. It mimics reality, but is its own world. One 'falls' into it, but direction holds no meaning. One has a 'form', but no corporeal body. And yet, these vague and hard-to-understand concepts become all too concrete once the Midnight invades the real world.
Shadows mimic the light, and the Midnight is no different. In its upper layers, one will see the exact same environment around them as in reality, but will be unable to interact with the real world. While walls and barriers will still be solid, beings outside the Midnight become near-invisible. And instead of a corporeal body, one possesses a form outlined in silver, which can only interact with other things within the Midnight. Deeper still, reality fades completely, and distance and time become malleable.
As far as is understood, the Midnight has no consciousness - the realm itself is no more sentient than the ocean. But the ocean is still deadly. Seemingly without cause, the Midnight is filled with strong currents and whirlpools, and its very existence is anathema to most people. Night mages are blessed with the power to somewhat resist its corrosion, but those who have no similar protection will find themselves victim to its consuming hunger.

The Grinning Shadows

True shadows are cast by light. The Midnight's constructs are shadow, born of shadow.

Shadows mimic the light, and the Midnight mimics the world. As it ebbs and flows (beneath, beside, beyond) reality, it creates currents and riptides like an ocean. Where these zones of influence are strong enough, its creatures learn from real things: trees, animals, sapient beings. And when a world-rift eventually opens, these reflections creep into the real world, taking the places of their models. Like all shadows, they are strongest during the day, and will spread their darkness best while the sun is high. But at night, their true forms are revealed by the charcoal moon, just as they are weakened by the silver one.

The Deepest Depths

"Dream with Us..."

- unknown voice in the dark

Main Article: Of the Lirustime

Just as there are some parts of the sea that no one will brave, the Midnight's depths have almost never been explored. Beyond a certain (depth, distance), night mages do not try to explore the darkness further. There seems to be no obvious reason behind this, except for one. At the point just after this "depth", multiple mages report having experienced a strange tugging feeling unlike the normal currents of the Midnight. This one has purpose; although it does not speak, its intent is instinctively understandable. No eyewitness accounts have been found of what happens to those who strive against this presence, for everyone who does not immediately flee to safer regions is never seen again.

Torn Fabric

Ruptures in reality are rare events, happening under unknown conditions. Whatever force opens world-rifts between the Midnight and reality seemingly works without patterns - no formed shapes or obvious similarities between locations. Natural rifts are always silent at first, little more than frayed seams where reality has been torn. As it consumes more of the surrounding material, a world-rift becomes stronger and more powerful. They often create spaces of blasted earth around them, devoid of life. Even the air seems to grow sparser nearby, and the ground less solid. When a rift is created by an ignorant or careless night mage, however, its birth and effects are much more... violent.